Natural gas received another key endorsement as an important tool in combating climate change and maintaining grid reliability from the Energy Future Initiative’s Ernest Moniz, a former Energy Secretary under President Obama who is rumored to be a top contender for the role in a Biden administration.

During an event this week, Moniz told Politico:

“My opinion has not changed in terms of natural gas remaining important in the transition, because of maintaining reliability and resilience of the system.”

Moniz has long advocated for a diversified energy system that includes natural gas as a means to reduce emissions. Most recently, his think tank released a report finding that in order to achieve its decarbonization goals, New England will need to increase natural gas usage:

“Natural gas generation is the most cost-effective source of firm capacity, and some reliance on gas generation for resource adequacy is consistent with achieving a 95 percent carbon-free electricity grid in 2050 as long as the generation operates at a suitably low capacity factor.”

And while his data-backed views prompted activists to vocally oppose Moniz’s appointment under the Obama administration and again push for him not to be considered to lead Biden’s Department of Energy, he is far from alone in his statements on the role of natural gas in the future energy grid or what it’s done to reduce U.S. emissions.

The Energy Information Administration credits the transition to natural gas for electricity generation with preventing nearly 58 percent more CO2 emissions than non-carbon fuel sources since 2006.

In 2019, an International Energy Agency report found that without the increased use of natural gas for electricity generation, “the [1.7 percent] increase in [global energy] emissions would have been more than 15 percent greater.” Further, IEA explained:

“Despite this increase, emissions in the United States remain around their 1990 levels, 14 percent and 800 Mt of CO2 below their peak in 2000. This is the largest absolute decline among all countries since 2000.” (emphasis added)

In fact, another IEA 2019 report found that the transition to natural gas could prevent 1.2 billion tons of carbon emissions from entering the atmosphere, including a 10 percent reduction just from the use of existing natural gas-fired power plants to replace aging facilities. IEA, like Moniz, said that natural gas would “contribute to security of supply by balancing variable renewables and meeting peaks in demand.”

Here are a few of Moniz’s comments on natural gas during his previous tenure as the Secretary of Energy:

• “In broad terms, we find that, given the large amounts of natural gas available in the U.S. at moderate cost … natural gas can indeed play an important role over the next couple of decades (together with demand management) in economically advancing a clean energy system.” (December 17, 2012)
• ‘My look at the evidence to date suggests that [methane emissions] in no way eliminates the significant advantage of gas over coal for CO2 emissions. …About half of [the greenhouse gas emissions reductions] progress we have made is from the natural gas boom, in this case the market-driven substitution for coal.” (August 1, 2013)
• “’Low-carbon solutions will look different in different places. People ask me if natural gas is part of the problem or part of the solution, and I always answer yes,’ the secretary added, noting that about half of the country’s reductions in greenhouse gases in the coming decade are projected to be achieved through replacing coal plants with natural gas. ‘It is perceived as a bridge fuel, and in certain parts of the country, an important one.’” (May 16, 2014)
• “The increased production of oil and natural gas in the United States has, obviously, been a major story in terms of our economy, and also our environment. The natural gas boom, in particular, has led to the displacement of high-carbon coal with low-carbon natural gas producing fewer [carbon dioxide] emissions.” (August 15, 2016)